ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the procedure of aptamer discovery, including both aptamer selection and aptamer truncation. It discusses the different aptamer-functionalized nanomaterials, including aptamer-based synthetic antibodies, aptamer-functionalized nanoparticles, and aptamer-based multifunctional nucleic acid molecules. Cell recognition is an essential tool in biological and biomedical fields. Various natural or synthetic molecules have been used as affinity ligands for cell recognition. Nucleic acid aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acid molecules that can recognize target molecules with high affinity and specificity. Nucleic acid aptamers are selected from single-stranded DNA or RNA libraries through, systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment. Cell recognition plays an essential role in biological and biomedical applications, including cell separation, biosensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, etc. Cell recognition relies on various receptor–ligand interactions. Antibodies have been widely used in developing material systems to achieve specific cell recognition because of their diversity and high binding affinity.
